Pump jack



J. T. PHIPPS May 7, 1929A.4

PUMP JACK 3 Sheets-Sheet- Filed Dec. 2l, 1926 May 7, 1929. J, T PHIPPS 1,711,806 1 PUMP JACK Filed Dec. 21, 192e :s sheets-sheet' 2 11a/f f f fly? 23a-v' Jn,

w J. T. PHIPPS May 7, 1929.

PUMP JACK Filed Dec. 2l, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet Inventar.

Patented May 7, 1929.V

UNITED STATES w l 1,711,806v

i JOHN T. PHIPPS, 'OF`HUNTINGTON PARK, CALIFORNIA.

- PUMP JACK.

Application led December This invention has to do generally with pump jacks or power heads for reciprocating the sucker rods of deep 'well pumps, and

it is the general object to provide a pump jack of the longstroke type` which is comparatively simple of construction and yet peculiarly effective in operati-on. y

The jack, asa whole, may be considered Ias novel from several aspects, while severa-l of the sets of coacting elements making up the ljack, as a whole, are individually novel and'may be embodiedto advantage withv sets of elements other than those here shown and particularly described.

`Without attempting exhaustively to discuss the features of merit of theinvention, for many .of these will be self-apparent to those skilled in the art, I will .outline 'briefly some of the outstanding features.

There 4are two general types kof pump heads, one embodying a walking beam vconnection 'between the sucker rods anda power shaft, and the other embodying` gear .or rack and `pinion connections between the sucker rods and .power shaft. Each type has its peculiar advantages; for instance, in the walking beam type, advantage is had of a' crank action to vsecure the desirable effect of givin-g comparatively .slow pick-up movement to .the sucker rods, that is, relatively slow movement at the lower end of the stroke when the load is initially `taken by the pump plunger; while the rack and pinion 'type renders it possi-ble easily to secure a desirably long pump stroke. On the other hand, the walking beam type has the disadvantage of being undesirably limitedY as to stroke length and calls for special provisions to care for the variable angularity v between beam and suckerrods; while the usual rackr and pinion type has the disadvantage of failing ment. v

I have combined .the walking beam and rack and pinion mechanisms in such a manner that full Aadvantage is had of the beneto provide for slow pick-up moveic-ial vfeatures lof each type and yet the un desirable features of each type are eliminated. By my arrangement, the length of stroke of the sucker rods is increased appreciably over' the vertical extent of the walking beam stroke, .and yet advantage is had of crank action to give variablespeed or Yslowpick-up to thesucker'rods. f

The crank action, ofcourse," slows down 21, 192e. serial No. 156,268.

the stroke speed at each end of the stroke, or, in other words,`as the rods are changing direction of movement at the stroke ends. However, it is desirable that the pick-"up speed, that is the speed when the plunger starts upwardly and first assumesitspump- -ing load, be slowerthan the :speed at the upper end of the stroke. Accordingly, I have provided means whereby this is accomplished. In a patent granted to me on December 22, 1925, on operating head for pumps, No. 1,566,692, I have shown means for accomplishing this slowing 4downjV of pick-up speed, but the means here 'disclosed` isvldistinctly novel, as compared with :the means ofthe patent, and has many points of advantage thereover, as will be apparent from a consideration of 'the two.l The means Ihere employed will be set out fully nection between a driven shaft and the.r

sucker rods whereby the rotary movement of the shaft imparts longitudinal reciprocatory or straight-line movement to the sucker rods.

However, either of these connections may bey combined with connections 1 other than those shown, andvtherefore may be considered as novel sub-combinations in themselves. v f

The mechanism includes a usual walking `beam` and a substantially vertically extend- Viewed in one asv ing rack depending from the work end vof saidbeam. By virtue of, this substantially vertical arrangementof vthe rack, much complication is avoided, both as regardsconnections madethereto and means for guiding it through its movement. It is also advantageousin that it calls for no change of the usual .walking beam and actuating means therefor,` either as regards its structural characteristics" or disposition with relation to the wheel, it thus being possiblequickly to ,shift from use of saidbeam for yactuating the pump or for pulling or setting tubing or sucker rods. This vertical Adisposition of the rack also allows .its employment to guidekcertain other elements of my device in theirVv movement, to obvious advantage.

My invention may be embodied with pcculiar advantage in connection with duplex pumps, but this .feature may be discussed to better advantage in connection with the following detailed description.

an important feature of my invention, the device is such that it is capable of being built sturdily and of being operated with minimum care and attention, both these characteristics being very important due to the severe service conditions met in the field.

Other objects and novel features of the invention will be made apparent in the following detailed description, wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an installation embodying my invention; A

Fig. 2 is a view ofF ig. 1 as viewed from the right thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section on line 3*-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. l is a fragmentary section on line 1l-4- of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a variational embodiment .of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a section on line (3-6 of Fig. and

F ig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

In Fig. 1 numeral 10 designates a usual derrick floor supporting a usual Samson post 11 carrying walking beam 12. lValking beam 12 is adapted to be oscillated from power shaft 13 through usual crank 14- and pitman 15. The string of suckerl rods 16 carries at its lower end a usual pump plunger (not shown) there being mechanism inter* mediate beam 12 and rods 16 whereby oscillatory movement of the beam imparts rectilinear reciprocatory movement to the rods.

On floor 10 are the horizontally spaced base members 17 between which Vextends the substantially vertical beam-rack 18, said rack having any suitable pivotal connection 19 with lbeam 12, the connection. preferably being of a type allowing easy assembly or disassembly so the beam may bev readily applied to uses other than as a pump-rod reciprocator. 'y' f A spur gear 20 is carried on shaft21 which extends between and is ournaled in supports or bases 17, and rack 18 is held in mesh with this pinion by such means, for instance, as the'flanged guide rollers 22 `on the base-supported shafts 23. Rack 18 extends through an opening 24: in floor 10, and it will be seen that while it is held between gear 20 and roller 22 it is capable of slight oscillatory or pivotal movement about connection 19 in order to compensate for the horizontal component of beam-end movement during beam oscillation. However, it will be understood that such compensation mayV be accomplished in other ways such as by providing a lost-motion connection between beam yand the middle of the stroke, it followingthat the same condition will prevail throughout the mechanism driven .from said rack, this being a desirable feature inasmuch as it 1s imparted ultimately to sucker rods 16 whereby their speed of movement is decreased at the stroke ends, the desirability of this condition being well known to those lskilled in` the art.

Shaft 21 carries at its opposite extremities gears 25, these gears being generally charac-- terized as of variable effective diameters. Before a detailed discussion of these gears, it may be stated that they are in operative engagement with rod-racks 26 which, in turn, are connected to rods 16. Due to the variable effective diameters of gearsV 25 it will be seen that with shaft 21 revolving at given speed, racks 26 and hence rods 16 will be driven at variable speed, and the assembly here is such that the variation in speed occurs while rods 16 are near the lower end of their stroke, the racks 26 and-rods 16 moving more slowly at the lower end of theirY stroke than they do at the upper end thereof.

While any of the well known means may be employed for holding the variable diameter gears and their racks in mesh, it is preferable that the rack be held to straight line movement rather than swinging to and fro as is true of one typev of connection, it following that the pitch line P of the rack teeth 26" will be curvedto fol-low the variable diameter pitch circle of the gear, flanged rollers 27 on support 17 holding the racks to the gears. .Y v

While the variation in diameter of the gears 25 may be made to suit individual requirements, a typical variation is illustrated in the drawings wherein the pitch radius throughout an extent w of about 90O is constant and relatively long, the 'pitch radius throughout an extent b adjacent extent a and of about 160o is of gradually diminishing length, and the pitch radius through extent o adjacent extent Z9 and of about 30o is of constant and relatively little length. The remaining angular extent d, which is ineffective and may be untoothed, leads from extent a to extent c. kHowever, the ratio' between spur gear 2O and thev effective or toothed portion of a given gear 25V issuch that with the stroke of rack 18 of given length, the stroke of rack 26 ywill be ofV leoY i ing beam, inherently limited as to stroke. The gears `25 are so greater' than given length, a relatively long stroke thus being gained even though a walklength, is employed. 1 disposed on shaft 21 that their extents of diminishing radii lengths engage the rack While rods 16 are near the lower end of their stroke, while the extents c of relatively short, uniform length radii engage the rack while the change inv direction of rod movement is being accomplished. It follows that the'desirable slow pick-up movement of the rods and plunger is accomplished, whereas the rods are moved with comparative high speed during the remainder of the stroke, though they slow down somewhat as they lreach and return from their upper limit,

due to the crank connection. f A

Racks 26 preferably are connected by a cross vhead 28 which extends closeto rack 18, this relative disposition enabling me to employ said rack as a means for guiding or aiding such means as roller 27 in guiding racks 26 through their vertical movement and thus eliminating the necessity of other guide means, to obvious advantage. 'For this purpose I have mounted a central clevis or yoke 29 on cross head 28, the arms 30 of said clevis extending across opposite sides of rack 18, and, with the clevis-carried guide rollers 31, defining a way 32 through which said rack extends, it being understood that due to the ratio of gears 20, 25, the racks 18 and 26 have relative longitudinal movement duringbeam oscillation.

l/Vhere 'rack 18 is allowed oscillatory movement to compensate for beam movement, the faces 38 of the .rack,which faces engage rollers 31, may have such longitudinal con,- tour that the racks 26 are maintained in substantially erect condition in spite of this oscillatory movement of rack 18.

While connection betweenv racks 26 and rods 16 may be made in any'suitable man-A ner, it may be accomplished readily through cross-head 28, the rod extending upwardly through a central way 34 in said head and clevis or yoke 29. A suitable clamp 35 may be applied to rod 161 at a point above head 28. but preferably, though not necessarily,

said rod is not held against movement up#r wardly through said head. By reason of this provision, while clamp 35 provides a downwardly facing shoulder against'which the addition of certain duplicate elements. Therefore, the structure similar to that shown in Fig. 1 is numbered similarly and need not beldiscussed again and such parts as are added and mere duplicates are given the same numeral but with the exponent a Thus, there is provided, in addition to the elements shown in Fig. l., a second pair of variable diameter gears 25 with which racks 26 are held in mesh by Vflanged rollers 27. Since rack 18 is not here available as a guide, I have provided a vertical guide post 37,

braced from-post 11 by horizontal member y metrically opposite that at which gears 25 engage racks 26, and gears 25 and 25 are So relatively arranged that when rods 16 are full-down, rods 16 are full-yup, to an obvious end. v

There is a feature about this combination which amounts more than to the mere duplicationI of timed, reciprocating elements, this feature beingy one of real advantage and one which would not be true were gears 25 and. 25 of uniform diameter, throughout. 'To make this point clear, consider Fig. 5. Rod 16 is at the lower end of its stroke and is about to pick-up theload, a time when an abundance of applied power' is desirable. At the same time, rod 16 is at the upper limit of its stroke and racks 26 are engaging the relatively long-radius portions of gears 25. That is, while the effective portions of racks 26 are relatively close to shaft 21, the effective portions of racks 26 are relatively distant from said shaft and hence" have considerable mechanical advantage. This advantage is put to use inasmuch as the weight of racks l26, rod 16, and the column of oil (not indicated) above the pump plunger (not shown) applied to that rod is effectively brought to bear on gears 25 in a manner tending to rotate gears 25 and hence shaft 20 and gears 25 in a directionproper to lift racks 26 and rods 16, this lifting aid being given at the critical time, that is, as the load is being picked up by rods 16.

It will be understood the drawings and description are to be considered merely as illustrative of and not restrictive on the broader claims appended hereto, for various changes in design, structure andy arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of said claims.

yI claimz. j

' A1. vIn combination, a walking beam, means for Yoscillating the beam, a string'of sucker 4 museeVV rods to be reeiprocated, a substantially vertical rack depending from lthe work end of the beam and adapted to be recipreeated by oscillations thereof, means tor guiding the rack during its reciproca-tion, a' second i'eeiprocat-ing rack connected to the sucker rods, and substantially paralleling` the lirst mentioned rack, a pair of driviiiggly connected gears, one in mesh with each rack, wheieby recipi'ocation et the tirst mentioned rack rotates its associated gear in a'iiianncr to rotate the other gear and thereby reciprocate the second mentioned rack and the sucker rods, and enacting` means between the racks whereby the second mentioned rack is guided during,` its reeiprocation by said ,tir-st mentioned rack.

2. In combination, a Walking beam, means for. oscillatingthe beam, a string ot sucker rods to be reciprecated, a substantially vertical rack depending from the work end ot the beam and adapted to be reciprocated by oscillations thereof, a second recipi'oeatory rack Connected to the sucker rods, an operative connection between the racks whereby reeiprocation of the iii'st mentioned rack recpi'oeates the second mentioned rack and thereby imparts longitudinal movement to the rods, said last mentioned connection ineliiding` a pair ot drivingly connected gears, one in mesh with each rack, wl'iereby recip` i'ooation of the iii-st mentioned rack rotates its associated gear in a manner rotate the other Lrear and thereby reciprocate the secoiid mentioned rack and the sucker rods, one

oi said gears being' ot variable effective di-y eter, and a pair o'lvracls arranged at'oppon site sides ofthe sha'tt and held, one each, in mesh Awith said gears and operatively connected, one each, to said reds, a portion of one gear having relatively large diameter being,` in. mesh with its associated rack when a portion oit the other gear having` rela-- tively small diameter is Vin mesh with its associated rack.

,Inrwtness that I claim the itorefegoingg; I have hereunto subscribed my naine this 2nd day of December, 1926. n

JOHN T. PHIPPS 

